Flavor characteristics and consumer preference for the commercial aged Cheddar cheese

• 1、Food science and technology school, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122

Abstract：Currently the commercial Cheddar cheese in China is mainly exported from other countries such as USA, UK, Australia, and variation in the flavor characteristics may exist among the cheese products. Consumers from different countries have different preference on the flavor of foods, and there has been no report on the Chinese consumer preference for the Cheddar cheese yet. In the present study aged Cheddar cheese exported from 5 countries were analyzed for volatiles and sensory characteristics, and illustrated the existence of regional differences in flavor characteristics of the commercial Cheddar cheese and the preferences of Chinese consumers. The results showed there were regional differences in volatile profiles of the commercial Cheddar cheese from various countries, and the main difference was from the acid compounds. Chinese consumers had distinct preferences for Cheddar cheese with milky and nutty characteristics in both aroma and taste. However, Cheddar cheese with high intensity of sulfur flavor and bitter was ranked low. Therefore, Cheddar cheese with milky, nutty characteristics and low intensity of sulfur and bitter would be desirable for the Chinese consumers.

Keywords： aged Cheddar cheese； flavor characteristics；SPME；sensory evaluation；preference